Blackout (G2)

This article is about . For other uses of "Blackout", see Blackout (disambiguation)|The name or term "Blackout" refers to more than one character or idea. For a list of other meanings, see Blackout (disambiguation).}}
Blackout was to have been a Decepticon Seeker from the Generation 2 portion of the Generation 1 continuity family.
All the good names are taken, but we don't have to use Y. pestis yet.

Blackout is a Decepticon jet. Given his coloration, he may be a stealth/nighttime operations specialist.

Toys

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Generation 2

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Paint it Black.
  • Blackout (Decepticon Jet, 1995)
  • Accessories: Presumably left & right fists, left & right wings, left & right tail fins, left & right tail wings, landing gear, 2 missile launchers, 3 missiles, sound/light energy unit
Years after the end of the Generation 2 toyline, concept/packaging art (above) and a production-colors sample (right) for "Blackout", a redeco of the Generation 2 Starscream toy, was discovered. According to the assortment number on the art, this toy would have slotted somewhere in the mid-point of the 1995 batch of toys. Obviously, this did not happen, and given the general lack of found material for this toy, it seems likely this assortment was canceled pretty early on in development, as by that point Hasbro was trying to distance the line from the "feel" of the original Transformers line as much as possible.
This toy would have been released alongside the similarly-canceled Sandstorm.
{{#if:The Transformers|The Transformers mold:|}} Decepticon Jets (Seekers)

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2

Version 1 (standard):


Version 2 (Coneheads):

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2

Version 1 (standard):


Version 2 (Coneheads):

}}|}} {{#if:V1: Kōjin Ōno
V2: Takayoshi Doi||-

V1: Kōjin Ōno
V2: Takayoshi Doi|}}

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}} | }}

{{ #if: |
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Proceed on your way to oblivion.
This item has been canceled, with no current plans for release. {{ #if: |{{ #if: |  |
}} talk page.|}}

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Notes

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Whole new meaning of "Jet Black".
  • Blackout has a riveting history as one of many canceled Generation 2 toy concepts:
    • A mostly black and grey mock-up of what was believed to be a Generation 2 Starscream, given the nose art "Black Death" and, accordingly, speculated as perhaps intended to be named as such, was found on U.S. auction site eBay courtesy of a seller who had acquired materials from former Hasbro employees. The same collection also yielded the mock-up of Generation 2 Sandstorm (aka "desert Ramjet") and artwork of "tiger Grimlock".
    • In 2012, the fandom discovered that Blackout was further along in production than previously suspected when a production colors test shot was discovered on the Chinese auction site TaoBao (from a seller also possessing loose copies of the Generation 2 Protectobots, Stunticons, and Sandstorm).<ref>Blog post by Collecticon, 25 January 2012</ref>
    • The packaging artwork was formally published in the 2014 book Legacy: The Art of Transformers Packaging, and in 2020, a labeled piece of the packaging artwork was discovered, revealing that the "Black Death Starscream" had, in fact, been intended to be named as Blackout.<ref>Facebook post by Jim Sorenson, 24 March 2020</ref>
    • Somewhat confusingly, there appear to be two different pieces of artwork related to the Blackout concept: one (seen at right) is simply a palette-swapped version of Starscream's Generation 2 artwork (down to having exactly the same color stickers), while the other (seen at top) features numerous alterations, among them new foot, knee, and shoulder intake detailing, differently positioned wings, and the missile launchers included with the Generation 2 releases of Starscream and Ramjet. Though unconfirmed, this wiki assumes that the second piece of artwork was meant to go with the final release.
  • In addition to Blackout and Sandstorm, a jungle-themed deco of Starscream and a cloud-themed deco of Ramjet are known to exist. Whether these would have been Starscream and Ramjet or new characters remains unknown; in 2023 the latter scheme would be used by Hasbro for the Legacy: Evolution character Cloudcover.

References

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